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For the last time fanbois, this game is NOT growing
admriker444
Member Posts: 1,526
I see Obraik and other fanbois are still trying to convince others that the game is "growing" and the population is healthy.
Once again I must point out that the President of SOE himself stated recently that the game continues to lose players. He was happy to admit however that the rate of losses was slower. That statement of course is ridiculous as of course the rate will slow when there are less players around to quit.
The only reason people like Obraik might see more pvp action is because players from less populated servers are moving to the few remaining populated ones. This is a fact that has repeated itself in many other failing mmo's.
I saw this in AC2, Horizons, EQ2, and a few other MMO's. The few remaining players are trying to convince others (and themselves) that their game is fine.
Perhaps its an ego thing. If they admit their game is a loser then they'll realize....
Comments
I've seen screenies. Coming from Bria, they don't convince me. Sorry, but 3 groups or 24 total pvping is not what I consider a lot. You can get that many overts AFK in Bestine and AH round the clock (or did two months ago).
And besides, since when is this pvp only game. Shouldn't there be hordes of carebears, occupying every campable spot? Lines forming on mustafar?
When pre-order for TooW was launched (1 week before others), there was so many people on mustafar, it was devoid of spawns, since they'd get killed faster than they would respawn (random spawns, not bosses). There was novelty effect, no doubt about it, but THAT was a lot of people.
I also find it funny, people coming here: "Look, lots of people". Why? If there's lots of people, there's no need to prove. Its the same, as naysayers showing pics of empty places. If the game is doing so great, why bother proving it here.
- File a bug
- 24 hours later (exactly) file another bug)
- Write down both bug numbers.
- Subtract them.
It would be interesting to see, how many get posted daily. During the last summer, I believe it was around 1 every 7 seconds, but I could be wrong. Didn't pay too much attention to it then.
I am FAR from a Fanboi, but I will add what I've seen since I've returned:
IMO:
What The returning Vets told me:
What the New Players told me:
There it is. The game is NOT doing well, and the pop is started to drop again. It may be growing a bit now, but it won't get any better, and it will NEVER grow enough to survive with the NGE.
I'll start my own SWG... with Black Jack... and Hookers!!!
In fact, forget the SWG!!!!
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As ye SOE, so shall ye weep.
Hmm few people in EQ2 lol.What you been smoking dude.
Why not leave those still intrested in SWG to have their fun eh?
Every big publish will see more old player returns. They return with the hope they will find a game they like to play again, or at least something they can tollerate.
In the end, they find the game is still ran by Lucas Arts and Sont so the game still sucks monkey nuts. Then they quit again.
"SWG was a world, now it's just a game" -adamrk-
"When the game was good, you didn't have to ask where the population was, because it was everywhere. When the game was good you didn't have to ask which server had population, because they all did. When the game was good you didn't have to beg friends to give it a try, because they were already playing. " - Salty Pete
Hmm few people in EQ2 lol.What you been smoking dude.
Why not leave those still intrested in SWG to have their fun eh?
I wont claim to know much about EQ2 as I only played it for 2 weeks at launch and quickly left. However the fact that they had a server merger must mean reduced player population.
SOE can spin it however they like but there is no getting around this...less servers = less players.
Hey, don't flame me, I didn't disagree with anything else you said and I didn't claim what I said was fact.
My source is me playing, and the sad thing is there are more people playing, but that doesn't mean it will last, because it won't. The game still sucks, and the NGE is a complete failure.
I think the important thing to understand is that the game may be experiencing a surge right now, but 20% compared to even the CU is a joke. This is 20% of 35k people, not 20% of 250k. And considering that the state of the game has not improved, it won't keep the poeple trying it or coming back.
NOT ONE PERSON I HAVE TALKED TO IN-GAME LIKES THE NGE. That is un-escapable. No one (and I've talked to over 100 , although some may be Alt's) likes the GAME PLAY! I have NOT heard from one person actually in-game say they like it, or even think it's a close to finished system. THAT is why it's dead, EVERYONE was talking about "waiting" for another game or Publish, and how long will that keep people? Come play Galaxies, the best place to wait-online?
I'll start my own SWG... with Black Jack... and Hookers!!!
In fact, forget the SWG!!!!
Hmm few people in EQ2 lol.What you been smoking dude.
Why not leave those still intrested in SWG to have their fun eh?
I wont claim to know much about EQ2 as I only played it for 2 weeks at launch and quickly left. However the fact that they had a server merger must mean reduced player population.
SOE can spin it however they like but there is no getting around this...less servers = less players.
Yep, if any mmo company merges servers there is a population drop, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There is no reason to merge servers unless the game is loseing subscribers. Really cant spin it any other way.
Hmm few people in EQ2 lol.What you been smoking dude.
Why not leave those still intrested in SWG to have their fun eh?
I wont claim to know much about EQ2 as I only played it for 2 weeks at launch and quickly left. However the fact that they had a server merger must mean reduced player population.
SOE can spin it however they like but there is no getting around this...less servers = less players.
Exactly, you havnt played it in over a year, and you dont play it period. Also ill correct you again, there is not "less servers". When Kingdom of Sky hit, they took 6 PvE servers, and merged them with 6 other PvE servers, then opened up 6 PvP servers, since Kingdom of Sky implimented PvP into the game. Their are 6 PvE servers, 6 PvP servers, 2 RP, and 1 Bazzar server. My numbers may be off by 1 or 2 since I havnt made a new character in awhile I just play.
EQ2 is doing fine, the PvP is very well designed and balanced concidering its new to the game. Their are plenty of people, tons of raids and guilds with mountains of people, there are plenty of items on the broker, once again, EQ2 is doing fine. Everybody needs to get out of this dumbass state of mind that they are stuck in, that if the game isnt "wow pop" then its a failure.
"There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
Boba Fett
Hmm few people in EQ2 lol.What you been smoking dude.
Why not leave those still intrested in SWG to have their fun eh?
I wont claim to know much about EQ2 as I only played it for 2 weeks at launch and quickly left. However the fact that they had a server merger must mean reduced player population.
SOE can spin it however they like but there is no getting around this...less servers = less players.
Exactly, you havnt played it in over a year, and you dont play it period. Also ill correct you again, there is not "less servers". When Kingdom of Sky hit, they took 6 PvE servers, and merged them with 6 other PvE servers, then opened up 6 PvP servers, since Kingdom of Sky implimented PvP into the game. Their are 6 PvE servers, 6 PvP servers, 2 RP, and 1 Bazzar server. My numbers may be off by 1 or 2 since I havnt made a new character in awhile I just play.
EQ2 is doing fine, the PvP is very well designed and balanced concidering its new to the game. Their are plenty of people, tons of raids and guilds with mountains of people, there are plenty of items on the broker, once again, EQ2 is doing fine. Everybody needs to get out of this dumbass state of mind that they are stuck in, that if the game isnt "wow pop" then its a failure.
I will agree with you there. If a mmo has a pop of over 100,000 its is a success. EQ2 is not dieing. WoW is not dieing ...yet (if they do not add more real content like new classes it will). With so many mmos coming out the competiton for subscribers is gonna get hot. Substandered mmos WILL die. It will not be likely to see games holding the 5 million subscribers (not even WoW). Its gonna be interesting ,and the real winners are the gamers. Competion will breed better games and the devs will have no choice but to give the gamers what they ask for. Is gonna be good for us all, PvE'ers AND PVP'ers both will finnaly get what they want.
As for numbers, 5 mil is just the beginning. As MMOs move from grind fests towards providing actual content, you'll see "station-pass" access to MMOs, that will easily top 5 mil. But standalone games are currently peaking, simply because they are collapsing under their own weight of administration, management and development costs.
But yea, better in this case means mainstream and revenue oriented. Current MMO model is obsolete, past generation. The grind concept works for only a small number of audiences. The true succesors to MMOs of today will find a way to provide non-grind content. Until that happens, WoW is here to stay, showing the way forward.
And total population numbers do not really matter. A single SWG server could not host more than 4k-10k simultaneous players. Instanced games limit district population at 50-200. And major reason why current publishers need such high numbers, is to cover the insane development costs, and cover just the basic maintainance. New technologies are being developed, but they are not ready for live yet. Instancing is current workaround, for better or worse. It's the only currently viable way to keep these costs down.
Having played EQ, EQ2, Planetside, and SWG, i can say I certainly consider their tactics and development teams some of the worst in the industry. The devs lie, frequently, about new content, bugs/fixes, subscriber numbers, etc. I will say that I do despise SWG, and I consider it the biggest failure among any MMORPG I've ever played.
However, the real thing for me comes from their track record in my book. Of all the games I mentioned, EQ is the only one that seemed to function properly, after a significant period of time. Granted, Planetside and EQ2 work 100x now than they used to, but in my book, SOE always releases sub-par products, and let's them fester for months, maybe years before they finally start fixing BASIC problems. SWG is just the poster-child for SOE's failure.
The funny thing about putting this game on the PS3, as was mentioned in another topic as well...no one's going to buy it. People know/have known SWG is a horrible game for a long time. Plus, considering it was released on the PS2 if I'm not mistaken...why would people buy the same title on a newer system? What purpose would it serve? The people with consoles who had any interest "probably" bought it for their PS2. I doubt they'd make the same mistake again now.
I don't know, if you ask me, SWG has been dead a long time. Not to the point where no one will play it, but to the point where new customers aren't a factor anymore. I think if SOE and LA want to salvage any sort of fanbase for the game, they should focus on appeasing who they have left, instead of worrying how to bring in new people. After all, when even your most die-hard fans can't defend your title, your average gamer certainly isn't going to come to it's defense.
Waiting for something fresh to arrive on the MMO scene...
"There's no star system Slave I can't reach, and there's no planet I can't find. There's nowhere in the Galaxy for you to run. Might as well give up now."
Boba Fett
Yeah, and he also said the game was losing players before the NGE. WoW is losing players, DDO is losing players, CoV is losing players. All games are losing players, why would SWG be any different?
No, these people are not from other servers. Nearly all of them are vets from well before the NGE with some new guys that started after the release of the NGE.
I know it's not the news you want to hear, but the game IS doing fine and the publishes are bringing people back again.
I am not attempting to flame anyone but I am in complete agreement with this post and not Mx. I kept my account up until March and I made my final decision when I got on at Mos Eisley one night at peak time and there was not one on. This game is dead.
As for those who do play....have they fixed the imbalance of the planets? I quit playing mainly because the only place to get xp was going to the lava planet or the Wookiee planet.
I'm not saying the isn't dead and I'm not saying it is, just letting you know that was a pretty obvious lie.
Unfortunately, anyone can make up numbers and throw them around.
The game is dead and should be unplugged.
Yep, you're crazy.
I do agree with MX when he says that people resubbed to try out the new patch and after the dev summit, people were alot more hopeful. After pub 28 went live however, it is painfully obvious nothing will ever change. People returning for one month after a pr blitz, only to cancel immediately because of the same ole crap does not = growing, and thats whats happened lately.
For the Horde!
Yep, you're crazy.
I do agree with MX when he says that people resubbed to try out the new patch and after the dev summit, people were alot more hopeful. After pub 28 went live however, it is painfully obvious nothing will ever change. People returning for one month after a pr blitz, only to cancel immediately because of the same ole crap does not = growing, and thats whats happened lately.
I don't know if I would say crazy. But, I find a curious lack of critical response to SOEs failures rather disturbing.
What MMOs always need is fresh blood. All subscription games have 8-10% monthly turnaround (too lazy to lookup the stats site right now). Just considering this, any and every MMO will lose 70% of original population after 1 year.
In case of SWG, it is the influx of new players that is the problem. It's no secret, pre-cu, or now, that many people join, mess around a bit, then quit since it sucks. It always has been like that. But SWG has maintained loyal player base, which, while it decreased the turnaround, did not provide the necessary influx. Simply put, every month more people cancelled than joined. And from business perspective, that's a problem.
SOE was/is/will be making money of SWG. They'll do anything to keep it alive as long as necessary. But I became convinced, that SWG was already bound for cancellation, and only way to keep it going was to merge it into station pass, since standalone version was in red numbers (NGE or no NGE). Monthly upkeed simply did not generate enough profit to keep it alive.
So in essense, alive or not, it's here to stay. Pre-cu won't come, because they can't afford to pay people to maintain it, current version is maintained by EQ2 crew, development is done by small team of part-time SOE developers, who are distributed over all SOE's projects.
SWG had it's share of cancellations, but they were more or less offset by ToOW purchases. It's currently funded from station pass pool, and serves as another offer in station pass, to add more variety. With EQ and EQ2, there was no need for another "turn-based" game, so they went into action direction.
Many of this can be interpreted from their press releases, from various external sources, even from Raph's commentaries (read between the lines from his posts about future directions of online gaming, debates of levels vs. skills, which all strangely coincide with direction changes at SOE), and so on.
At this point, if you cancel a standalone subscription to SWG it no longer matters. People would need to cancel station pass, and due to EQ2 that won't happen, not because of SWG alone. This also makes player base hard to judge, and number of staying players will be small, with high rotation of new players. But now, they no longer need to stay, since they are paying for everything.
Sadly, or not, SOE won this round. Not for the best of customers, but for their stockholders. We'll see how this will work out in the long run.
The sad thing is that I was playing PS up to Febuary (a Pre-Paid SP) until the Dev's pulled that BS* (those who play PS know what I 'm talking about). I couldn't believe what lieing AH's they are, I mean, wow.... that was incredible.
*For those who don't play PS, I'll enlighten you: On the 14the (yes, VD Day, hehe) they were suppose to roll out a TON of upgrades, but didn't. The thing was they did TELL ANYBODY THEY WEREN'T GOING TO. No joke, everyone was shocked in my clan. I took them 4 days to make a post about it.
I'll start my own SWG... with Black Jack... and Hookers!!!
In fact, forget the SWG!!!!